When The Odds Add Up
by Clatoclashers
Summary: Katniss Everdeen had a slim chance of winning the Hunger Games. She was a girl with a good shot, but the Careers from Two have trained their whole life for this. There is no way she could beat Cato or Clove in a fight. This is is what happens when the odds add up. Please let me know if you like this! Just testing the waters.
1. Prologue

"Of course it's just us. What did you think was going to happen? That bitch from Twelve would be standing in front of you?" I screamed at Cato, one knife in each hand, each dripping blood.

"Clove, this could be fun. Don't be so angry. Now drop the knives and come here." Cato smirked and raised his eyebrows. His spear raised,aimed at my heart.

We stood only feet away. Grass was our only separation. I was feet from victory. Feet and Cato that is. The strongest man I have ever known, the most talented, the deadliest, and certainly the cockiest son of a bitch I have ever met. God I hate him. I have always wanted to kill him. I could throw a knife right into his chest and it'd be over.

Throw it, Clove. You'll finally have the victory and he won't. You Will finally win!

My brain is fighting my heart. My heart tells me to drop my knife and go to him while my brain says kill him. I have spent lots of time it's him these past few weeks and he wasn't that bad. Him and I are a lot alike. We are actually friends.

Come on, kill the bastard. He always made you look like a fool back home, now is your chance. Don't drop the knives. You're crazy!

Clove, he won't kill you. Drop the knives and go to him. You always have a backup knife. He won't kill you, you're friends.

"Why,so you have a fair shot at winning? What do you think I am? An idiot?"

"Fine then." The spear fell from his right hand and bounced by his foot. He pulled a sword out of his jacket and dropped it too.

What is he doing? He must be luring me in. I can't actually believe this. He is a killer! He is a brutal killer. Why would he be dropping his weapons? Does he want to fight me with his bare hands?

"Wh-what are you doing? You must really think I'm stupid."

"Listen," he stepped forward and I threw the knife from my right hand.

He dodged it. I got ready to throw my next one. "Stop, I will kill you, Cato." I swallowed hard as I took a few steps back. He continued to come at me so I threw. He turned and it hit his right arm, his throwing arm.

"Really? Don't get violent on me now. I have no weapons. I'm not going to kill you, I promise."

The thing was he didn't need a weapon. He can snap my neck just like the boy's from Three. This was it. Cato wanted to win just as much as me, but he wanted to do it the most brutal and personal way possible. I have one more knife. I will let him get close. I will trick him. I can do this.

"I'm out." I breathed heavily from fear and exhaustion. "Cato, please."

He now stands right in front of me. He towers over me. His blue eyes shine as he looks into mine. "Clove, please." He grabs my waist with his big, strong hands and pulls me into his hard,toned chest. My breathing gets harder and heavier with every breath.

I stand frozen in his arms. Staring into his eyes,I try to get a word out. Fear has taken over. This has never happened before.

"Breath, Clove." He reaches under shirt, his cold hands grazing my skin. Still frozen, he goes under my bra.

Is he trying to get at me? Next thing I know, his hands are around my waist again and my emergency knife is at my feet. He disarmed me. He is playing me. I take a breath and my sense are back. I go to kick him in the crotch, but he grabs my leg. I begin to throw punches and get him a few times. Blood is dripping from his nose and it trails my knuckles.

I try to run, but he still has my leg. I fall and hit my nose hard on the ground. Blood flies out. This is it. I'm gone. He flips me over so I'm looking him dead in the eyes.

"Come on, get up." He offers his left hand. I realize his right is bleeding heavily from my knife. The lower half of his face is now red instead of his skin tone. I take his reached out hand and he pulls me to my feet.

"Just kill me! Please, don't make me suffer. You have done enough of that over the years. Snap my neck, please. Get me out of here. You'll be doing me a favor." I think as these may be my last words. "I don't know why I trusted you. I should've killed you while you were asleep. Do you know how many times I could have! I thought I was wrong about back home, but no. You are still a brutal bastard who kills for sport. I hope you live a slow, long, suffering life!"

"Clove, I'm not going to kill you. I can't. I'm in love with you."


	2. Chapter 2

After having my name drawn from the bowl that looked like a fish should belong in, the town square went quiet. No one offered to volunteer in my place, first time in 35 years. I was okay with that as I was the only one capable of winning in Two. I kept a serious face as I walked up on the stage. I continued with my lethal look while standing in front of all of Two. Inside, I was smiling and jumping up and down. I would finally bring home glory to my family, something I was never able to. I was ranked second best in Two. I was second best to Cato Zeliphra, a ruthless boy in which I hated with all my heart.

He has taken everything good from me in my entire life. No one cares about second best. The first best is the only best. That meant I didn't matter. When I win these games I'll show them who matters. As the escort calls the boy's name, I look at my mother and nod.

"I volunteer!" A burly voice shouts. I look to see who my "ally" and competitor is. Out from the crowd steps Cato Zeliphra. He is a tall,blonde man with shining blue eyes. His smile has girls fainting, but his smirk is deadly. Veins pop out from the muscles in his arms. He has every girl in Two drooling.

I yank my head back and look straight forward so I too, don't drool. For such an asshole he sure was attractive. At least I finally get the chance to kill him. I'll make sure he suffers as much as he had made me suffer over the years. This year's games will be interesting.

I zone out while on stage. I just begin to think about my training and the fame I will get after winning. I will finally have everything after that. Pretty soon someone touches my shoulder. I see them motion for me to come with them, and so I do. We walk right past the Justice Building to the train station. Two doesn't believe in saying goodbye to our families, as it doubts our confidence in winning. Instead, it's a straight train ride away to the Capitol.

I let down my dark brown hair from a ponytail. I run my fingers through it before braiding it. It's time to look deadly, not pretty. I remove the flower my mother put behind my ear. I throw it to the ground and step on it before entering the train. As the children of Two stand gathered around the train, I think how they are looking at the victor of the 74th Hunger Games. I sit down at a chair by the window, look out it, smile and wave. This will certainly not be the last time I see this place. It will only be three short weeks till I return.

Before I know it, the train takes off and Two is behind me. Thoughts of killing began to flood my mind and I begin to drift off. That is, until Cato sat beside me. I knew it was him by the way the seat rocked. Without opening my eyes I say, "Hello, Mr. Loser, I mean Zeliphra."

"Hello, Miss Montez. You're rather bitchy this morning. More than usual, surprisingly." I can just hear the smirk in his voice."Don't be scared, sweetheart. I'll make it fast."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make yours long and painful." I opened my eyes and turned to him with a big grin.

"You're funny. You know, we are going to be putting up with each other for awhile, that is, until I kill you. We still might as well be civilized."

"The great Cato Zeliphra being civilized? Well, there is a first for everything. Let me just get one thing straight. I hate you, I always have. You take everything good away from me, but guess what? You aren't taking this victory from me. I will win, whether it means killing you first or killing you last. There is no way that you will come out on top this time. You've had your turn, it's my turn to shine. Now, if you'd please, get your ass out of here and find another seat." I smiled and looked him directly in the eyes. I was proud of myself, but being a bitch was never challenging for me.

Cato nodded and stood up, only to be yelled at by our escort to sit down. So he nodded again, and sat right back down next to me. "I'm Znon, I'll be your escort for this trip. Your mentors will be with you shortly, but for now free fill to dine,talk, have fun. Just remember this train is a no arguing zone, that means fighting is prohibited too." Znon smiled and exited the car.

Znon is an interesting women. She has bright orange hair that stands straight up. Not to mention her eyebrows match her hair. Her face is covered in a white powder. She has so much makeup on she doesn't even look real! I heard all women in the Capitol look like this, something I'll be finding out.

"Wow, she's a trip." Cato laughed. I shot him a glare and he just smiled. "Why do you hate me? It's not my fault I'm better than you. Plus, I'm two years older, I've had more training. You don't really know me well enough to hate me as much as you do. Give me a chance, it may help you in the future." He shrugs his shoulders and offers me a hand, I just stare at it."Shake it, it won't kill you."

"You have oddly large hands, that isn't normal." I grab him by the wrist and pull his hand up to my face. "Look how long your fingers are! Is this why you're so good with sword? Is that your secret?"

"Um, that and I've held one since I was three." He talked slowly, as if he was completely confused. He yanked out of my grip and smiled. "So, are we gonna be in an alliance? I've seen the way you throw knives, you're amazing."

"I know, and you would know because I nailed you to a target by your clothes." I smiled back and remembered the time I had him pinned against a dummy. I had throw knives at the excess fabric of his clothing and gotten him stuck. Rumor has it that I actually freaked him out. "Did I scare you?"

"You think? I wasn't expected that to happen at all. I didn't know you were that go-"

Brutus, one of our mentors walked in and cut Cato off. "Shut up, you're in my train and you don't talk unless I tell you to." He wore a black muscle shirt and his voice trembled the train car.

"Well, I'm Cato and I talk whenever the fuck I want so you better learn to deal with it." He stood up, cracked his knuckles, tilted his head, and gave Brutus a smirk.

Brutus walked up to Cato and looked him in the eyes. They were about the same height, but Brutus slightly wider. A drop of sweat rolled down Brutus's bald head. "Listen to me, son. You're going to have hard time winning these games without me. I think it's best you follow my orders." He went to push Cato back into his chair, but Cato didn't budge.

"Oh, really? Is that so? You see, I don't need your help. I don't need you to send me matches because I can start a fire by myself. I also don't need you to send me little dried packs of jerky because if I want food, I'll hunt for myself. I also don't want your advice on anything." Cato moved Brutus out of the way and grabbed a knife off the table."It's simple, the goal is to kill, and I could do so with just this knife." Cato brought the shiny butter knife to his face. I know he was looking at his reflection.

So I grabbed a butter knife for myself and aimed to knock the one out of his hand. My knife stuck in the train wall while his dropped to his feet. "Stop staring at yourself, pretty boy."


	3. Chapter 3

The train car went silent. Cato stared at me, while Brutus starred at him. I might have actually of shut the two brutes up! I think I deserve some type of honor or something. Cato has never shut up in his life. The boy's been talking from the first day I laid eyes on him which was nearly eleven years ago.

Cato and I trained at Two's training center, Career Center, or CC. Two had the most respected training system out of all the district's. It produced the most victors and a majority of the Capitol's military. All children started at age five. They spent a year being evaluated and trained in basic combat and safety. After the year was up, the trainers picked thirty children to move on,normally fifteen boys and fifteen girls. The rest of them went to trade school because they were ill-qualified. The thirty that were accepted to train at the center would train until they were ten. During those four years weapon specialism, hand-to hand combat, survival skills, and Hunger Games education was taught. You would be reevaluated at that age and ten people were cut from the program. After that, you dealt with the same twenty people in your class until you were eighteen, or in my case sixteen. Those are the years you become lethal.

Since Cato was two years older, primarily we weren't in the same class. By age ten, it was decided I needed to be with classmates that would challenge me. I was moved into Cato's class. I have always been short, in fact I'm only 5'2 now. Back then I was well under four feet. Cato used to mock my height, but other than that he rarely paid attention to me. I didn't have any friends in that class, nor did I want to. I was to focused to worry about drama and they got me to where I am today.

In May of each year we are evaluated on our skills and ranked in order,gender not mattering. For six years straight I was ranked second. Cato always first. I guess I hate him because I'm jealous. I'm jealous that he is so talented, that even if he wasn't that talented his mother would love him, and that he was popular. He never did anything to hurt me or give me a real reason to hate him.

Me ranking second wasn't good enough for my father. Even though that made me the number one girl in Two, he would tell me that second means death. My father never competed in the games, in fact he didn't even make it into his second year. He was skinny and short, with olive skin and green eyes like me. I was said to look just like him, which was no honor to me. I was the daughter he expected to be a son. I was a disappointment to him no matter what. I try my hardest to please him, so that he is happy like he was when I was younger and the best in my class.

My mother is sweet, but fragile. She is to scared to stick up for herself so she goes along with my father and looks down on me. That leaves me nobody. I used to tell my older brother everything, but he was killed being a cocky Career. He went night hunting, a game Career's play in Two where they kill drunks in the industrial part, but picked a fight with the wrong guy. The drunk violently slaughtered my brother and I have since made a pact to win for him.

Either way, I always see Cato's mom at the local coffee shop where she works. I've never seen her get angry at him or even slightly raise her voice. I remember he lost a fight when he was ten and instead of scolding him, she hugged him and wiped the blood from his face. If it were me that had lost, my father would have made me slept outside, which I ending up doing quite frequently.

Before any one could say a word, I hear clapping to my left side. I turn and see a smiling Enobaria, victor of the 64th Hunger Games. Enobaria was my role model. She was tall with long dark hair and a viscous smile. She won the games by killing her last victim with her own teeth. She bit his vocal chords out and he bled to death. She has since gotten canines put in to replace her normal human teeth. She was truly a fighter.

"Now that, boys, is talent." She looked at the brutes, still frozen. Her voice almost mysterious."Name, girl?"

"Clove Montez." I put my arm on the dining table and rest my chin on my fist. "I had to shut them up, they were annoying me."

"I like you already." She smiled and turned to Cato. "Now, what have we got here?" She grabbed the collar of his grey button down shirt and pulled him closer to her. "Oh, you're a cutie. Looks, like we have something we can actually work with."

"Excuse me?"" Cato pulled away.

"I mean that you guys are likable, we can get you plenty of sponsors. You're going to need it, girl from Twelve volunteered in place of her little sister. Capitol is loving it. Not important though, sponsors don't give you talent." Enobaria sat down at the head of the table. " Everyone, sit." Both boys followed her order.

"Okay, so Clove." She opened a file. "Sixteen, knife thrower, ranked number two in the district. Impressive. Cato," she opens another," eighteen, spear,swords, hand-to-hand combat, ranked number one. Wonderful. I have one and two sitting in front of me. This will be a good year. Since we have a short ride, I want you two to review One's and Four's files, but first watch the other Reapings. I'll turn the tape on, it starts with Twelve and goes down to One. Watch out for Twelve, I can tell she is trouble. Kill her first, Clove." Enobaria stands up, signals to Brutus, and they both exit. The TV comes on and Cato and I are left to watch it.


	4. Chapter 4

I watched the screen as the girl from Twelve stepped up in place of her sister and the crowd salute her. She wore a single braid through her dark brown hair. She looked an awfully like me, only taller.

"Easy kill." Cato chuckled.

I nodded in disagreement. I could tell she was not going to be your normal tribute from Twelve. She had a look in her eye that was like no other. She was trouble. Sure, she hadn't had the training I have had, but she had something to hide. Something that may try to take my life.

I didn't say anything to Cato though, I just kept watching. When the video had gotten to Five, I grabbed the files Enobaria had given me. I opened Four's file. The boy's paper was first. Percy Misphield was his name. He was twelve and completely useless. I threw him paper to the ground without even reading it. The girl's name was Aqua something. Nothing to impressive, so I put it back in the file.

After that, I looked at One's. I opened it to see a picture of an ugly blonde. She had braces, red blemishes, and a huge nose. Her name was just as bad, Glimmer Shinebright. One is called the District of Luxury, not District of Intelligence for a reason. She her forte was hand-to-hand combat apparently. We will see. The boy was Marvel Granite, another dumb name. He was fairly attractive with short brown hair and blue eyes like Cato's. He was a spear thrower.

One and Two were automatically in the Career alliance. Often, Four joined them. This year, Four would not be joining them. Usually, the alliance is useless. They stay together for a few days, go on a killing streak, then turn against each other when the Games near the end. Rarely did the alliance benefit anyone. It usually ended you up dead or injured from fighting the others.

"Well, looks like we have an alliance." I sighed and threw the files at Cato.

"I want the boy from Three to join us." He said with all seriousness. Before I could say anything he said," Stop, don't talk. He's smarter than you and I will ever be. When his name was called at the Reaping, he hand his mom a thing with a bunch of wires. He's no fighter, but maybe we can use the Capitol's technology against the tributes."

"Cato you're a genius. Seriously. "

I was shocked. This kid was probably 5'8, skinny, with long dark brown hair. He didn't look like anything special. I would have killed him first if it weren't for Cato, but he could be a real asset.

Cato opened One's file. " Damn."

"Please, don't tell me you think she's hot." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, no. She's so ugly. That's what I meant. Look at her pose, she thinks she's hot!" Cato flashed the file toward me and we had a good laugh at her picture.

"We are here!" Znon walked into the train car, her hair almost to tall to fit through the door. "Are we ready? We are going to see your stylists. Parade is in six hours.

We unloaded the train underground. We took a short elevator ride up. When the doors open, Cato and I looked out into what looked like a hospital. The floors were granite and the ceiling was mirrored. It was a long hall with room like things to each side. Twenty-four total. The rooms were open in the front, separated by white cabinets. In the middle of the cabinets sat a long, metal table.

Upon taking one step out of the elevator, Cato and I were grabbed and dragged separate ways. I was injected with something before I could completely lay down on the table they brought me to. I felt myself getting drowsy. The last thing I saw was my reflection on the ceiling mirrors.


	5. Chapter 5

When I wake up, I hear the sound of footsteps pacing. I slowly sit up to see a man wearing all pink beside me. I study him for a moment before he acknowledges has bright pink hair and eyebrows to match. He even has pink eye shadow on. I try my hardest not to laugh.

"Finally, the beast awakens." His tone is similar to mine, also has a heavy accent."I'm your stylist. Don't call me Victory." He points to an ID card clipped to the pocket of his pink leather jacket."Call me Secret. Victory is a name I was given, Secret is the name I chose."

"Okay, if you don't want to be called Victory, call me that. In a few weeks I will be a victor and will have achieved victory. I think it fits me." I shoot a fake smile to him.

"Listen, beast. Be nice, or I will make you look like a fool for the interviews. I can dress you in what I want. It doesn't matter what you want. You are no princess. You are no victor. Until then, you don't call the shots." He picks up a golden dress and throws it on me before exiting.

"Bye, bitch!"

"I heard that!"

I stand up and take off the paper gown I have on. I begin to put the gold dress on. It's heavy. It has short sleeves, and a poofy skirt. I look into the mirror and see myself for the first time in makeup. I have gold eyeliner above my eyes. My hair is curled. I actually look pretty. The scar on my cheek has been covered.

On the cabinet besides the mirror is gold boots and a gold helmet. After struggling to get the boots on, I move on to the helmet. After a good ten minutes, I finally have the boots on my feet. I look ridiculous.

"Wow, that is quite an outfit. Definitely not my favorite." I hear a man's voice say to my left. I turn to see the boy from One, Marvel. He is in a even more ridiculous costume then I. It looks like Secret helped design it, all pink.

"And yours is better? I hate pink." I look him up and down before glaring into his eyes.

"I think pink is beautiful. Symbolizes so much mo-"

"I think pink means your weak. You see little girls wearing pink. It symbolizes their youth, innocence, and weakness. So in that case, I don't want a weak man like yourself in my alliance."

"I think pink is disgusting. My stylist made me wear this." Marvel looked down and put his hands in his pockets.

"You're smarter than you look. Well, I'll see you at the parade."

A few moments after Marvel left, Secret came into the room. He lead me to an elevator, where Cato was waiting. The doors closed behind me, leaving just Cato and I to ourselves.

""I met Glimmer. The Capitol almost made her pretty. To much to fix in not enough time." Cato chuckled."She's the stupidest person I have ever met. If you think our costume is bad, wait till you see her. She has pink feathers coming out of her head."

""Oh, I know. I met Marvel. He actually likes his costume. He thinks pink is pretty."I roll my eyes just as the doors open.

The doors open to Brutus and Enobaria waiting.. Past them I could see a line of chariots, each drawn by two horses. The chants from the crowd echoed inside the room.

"Follow me. You both look great. The crowd is going to love you. " Enobaria started walking."You guys don't want to give a sweet smile. You want to either smirk, grin, or have no emotion. Makes you look vicious." She flashed her canines. " And here we are, your chariot awaits. Stay close by it. We'll be waiting for you when you come back."

The chariot was black. It had "TWO" engraved into it. Two black horses waited patiently in front of Cato and I were conversing, the tributes from Four approached us. The boy introduced himself and began talking about his "skills". He was shorter than me and had brown curly hair. The girl had long dark brown hair, straight in a pony tail.

Cato and I looked at each other and nodded. Cato interrupted the boy and said,"Listen, you're useless. Get out of here. You too, gi-"

Glimmer appeared out of no where and said,"Um, no. Aqua is a part of our alliance. She says she is really good with a trident." Glimmer twirled her hair and smiled at Cato.

"Glitter, no one put you in charge of recruiting. These decisions are not up to you. We'll see how she trains and determine then. Got it?"

Glimmer rolled her eyes and walked away, taking Four with her.

"Tributes, please board your chariots. The parade will begin in two minutes."

Cato and I got onto our chariot. My heart began to race as I saw the doors open. The sounds of drums and cheers flooded my no time, the horses were moving. They began to trot and we were outside.

The crowd was shouted "Cato" and "Clove". They were throwing us roses and clapping as we went by. They already loved us! That is until they saw Twelve. Pretty soon they were shouting their names. Cato and I glanced at each other. We turn back to see flames igniting from their costumes. We were both so furious we missed Snow's speech.

After it was over, Enobaria and Brutus approached. "What the fuck was that?" Cato asked Enobaria. "They stole our show."

"Cato, shut up. Now. You can't possibly tell me you are jealous of some poor inbreds from Twelve. You calm the fuck down right now. I'm gonna go have a chat with the stylists." By the end of her speech to Cato, she was right in his face.

"I'm ready for the Games to start right now." I cracked my neck.

"So am I." Cato cracked his knuckles as we both starred down Twelve. Their mentor realized and began to take them away. You could see the fear in both of their eyes. They have no clue who they just fucked with.


End file.
